A Walsh County couple cashed North Dakota's first lottery jackpot ticket, a $420,094 prize in the Wild Card 2 game, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said.

The couple were not identified. North Dakota law allows lottery winners to remain anonymous. They bought the winning ticket July 12 at a gas station at Michigan, in neighboring Nelson County, in northeastern North Dakota. Michigan is about 35 miles east of Devils Lake.

Stenehjem said he presented the couple with their winner's check Tuesday. After federal and state taxes were withheld, the prize totaled $291,798. Stenehjem said they discussed buying a new car, taking a trip and retiring earlier than they had planned.

"These folks were what you might expect from a North Dakota large lottery winner," the attorney general said. "They were very unassuming, a very friendly couple who were overwhelmed with the fact that they had won a lot of money."

Wild Card 2, which is played in North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho and Montana, is one of three lottery games offered in the state. The others are Powerball and Hot Lotto. The couple's winning ticket is the first jackpot prize awarded to a North Dakota buyer.

Although the couple declined to disclose their names, Stenehjem said they have told friends about their windfall, and he expects word will get around.

"I mentioned to them if you tell three other people, you can be assured that it's going to spread around pretty quickly, and I think that's exactly what will happen. They understood this," Stenehjem said. "They were a little media shy, and that's just fine."